Fiat 124

This article is about the Fiat 124 sedan & station wagon models. For the 124 Coupé, see Fiat 124 Coupé. For 124 Spider, see Fiat 124 Sport Spider.

Fiat 124

Manufacturer	Fiat
Production	1966-1974
Assembly	Turin, Italy Casablanca, Morocco (SOMACA)[1]
Predecessor	Fiat 1300/1500
Successor	Fiat 131
Class	Family car
Body style	4-door sedan 5-door station wagon
Layout	FR layout
Engine	1.2 L 1197 cc ohv I4 1.4 L 1438 cc ohv I4 1.4 L 1438 cc dohc I4 1.6 L 1592 cc dohc I4 1.8 L 1756 cc dohc I4
Transmission	4-speed manual all-synchromesh[2]
Wheelbase	Sedan:2,420 mm (95.3 in)[3] SW:2,420 mm (95.3 in)[4]
Length	Sedan:4,042 mm (159.1 in) SW:4,045 mm (159.3 in)
Width	Sedan:1,625 mm (64.0 in) SW:1,625 mm (64.0 in)
Height	Sedan:1,420 mm (55.9 in) SW:1,440 mm (56.7 in)
Curb weight	950 kg (2094 lb)
Related	SEAT 124 VAZ-2101 (Lada 1200) VAZ-2105 (Lada Riva) Tofaş Murat 124 Premier 118NE

The Fiat 124 is a mid-sized family car produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat between 1966 and 1974. It was the replacement of the Fiat 1300 and Fiat 1500. Today it is perhaps best known as the car used as the basis for the Russian-built Lada, which continues in production to the present day beyond the 124's discontinuation in 1974.

Thanks in part to the ubiquity of the Lada version in Eastern Europe (and also in Latin America and the Caribbean), the 124 has achieved iconic status, and if Lada production is aggregated onto the original Fiat production run, the 124 and its various clones is one of the biggest selling automotive designs of all time with over 15 million units sold worldwide.

Launch

The 124 was introduced by being dropped by parachute from a plane and instantly won critical acclaim, including that year's European Car of the Year award - the fourth winner of the award and the first from Italy.^[5]

It was praised for its spacious interior, advanced coil spring rear suspension, disc brakes on all wheels and lightweight construction.

The car was unusual in the extent to which Oscar Montabone, the chief engineer responsible for its development, was able to start with a clean sheet.^[6] Only the all-synchromesh gear box came from an existing model, the Fiat 1500.^[6]

Engine

Power came from a 1.2 L (1197 cc) Fiat OHV straight-4, producing 65 hp (49 kW) and 70 ft.lbf (95 Nm). Also 124S with 1438 cc OHV engine and 124 ST with 1438 cc and 1592 cc Twin Cam with 5 speed gearbox.

Variations

A 124 station wagon was introduced in April 1967, featuring most of the same specifications as the saloon but the springs were stiffened and the final drive ratio changed to 4.4:1.^[7]

A slightly stretched and more luxurious version of the 124 sedan known as the 125 was launched in the early part of 1967.

The basic 124 saloon also spawned the Fiat 124 Sport Spider and the Fiat 124 Coupé, both sought after 1970s classic cars.

The end

Production of the Fiat 124 ceased in 1974, paving the way for the slightly larger but otherwise in most respects similarly configured Fiat 131 Mirafiori.

Engines

• 1200 (1197 cc) - 60 PS (44 kW; 59 hp) - 66 PS (49 kW; 65 hp) (1966–1974)
• 1400 (1438 cc) - 70 PS (51 kW; 69 hp) - 75 PS (55 kW; 74 hp) (1968–1974)
• 1400 Special T (1438 cc) Twincam - 80 PS (59 kW; 79 hp) (1968–1972)
• 1600 Special T (1592 cc) Twincam - 95 PS (70 kW; 94 hp) (1973–1974)
• Abarth Rally (1756 cc) Twincam - 128 PS (94 kW; 126 hp) (1972–1973)

Twins

Soviet Union/ Russia

Main article: VAZ-2101

VAZ-21011

In 1966-1970, Fiat sponsored the building of the AvtoVAZ car factory in the Soviet Union. The factory produced an adapted version 124R of the 124 known as the Lada ВАЗ-2101 / Zhiguli (sold as the Lada 1200 in export markets) until 1982 and 1200s until 1987. These cars are based on the 124 nut modified on more then 800 points, the major modification being an etirely different OHC engine developed by Fiat, hydraulic clutch, drum brakes at the rear, modified suspensions, etc. Early modifications include the VAZ 2102 (Station Wagon) 2103 (Lada 1500) 2106 (Lada 1600) and 21011 (lada 1300). The updated versions of the Lada based on the Fiat 124/ВАЗ-2101 design are made to the present day and are known as the ВАЗ-2104/2105/2107 — marketed as the Lada Riva or (Lada Classic) in most Western European markets. Production of this line until 2011 has exceeded 16,800,000 cars,^[8] and recently they are produced at the Izh car factory, az Izhevsk, Russia, az IZH-2104/2107.

Indian

1989 Premier 118NE

The Fiat 124 was also introduced in India by Premier Automobiles in 1986 as the Premier 118NE. The car was very similar to the 1966 version except for a few cosmetic changes to the front and rear. However, Premier incorporated the Nissan A12 (1171 cc/52 bhp) powertrain instead of the original Fiat engine along with a Nissan manual gearbox. The car got a tremendous response in the beginning. Auto magazines^[which?] praised its gearshift as the slickest of all. Rusting was the problem with these cars.^{[citation needed]} At the end of production an improved model called Viceroy was released in collaboration with Peugeot, France. Later on it was outmoded by other modern cars and production was stopped in 2001. A few well maintained versions are still found today.

Spanish

SEAT 124 manufactured circa 1970.

In the frame of the licence agreement between SEAT and Fiat, it was produced and sold in Spain with the name SEAT 124 from 1968 to 1980. The car was very successful in Spain, and was sold in both the 4-door and station wagon versions.

Also Sport versions were made with 1600 cc (1970–72) , 1800 cc (1972–75) and 2000 cc (1978–79).

Bulgarian

The Fiat 124 was also produced under the name Pirin-Fiat in Lovech, Bulgaria, on the basis of complete knockdown (CKD) kits between 1967 and 1971.

Turkish

Tofas Serçe, Turkish version of Fiat 124.

The Fiat 124 was also produced under the name Murat 124, aka. Serçe ("sparrow") in Bursa, Turkey by Tofaş. 134,867 Murat 124s were produced between 1971 and 1994. TOFAŞ concurrently produced the Fiat 131 series under the name Murat 131 between 1976 and 2002. Today, the company manufactures bona fide Fiat models.

Korean

The Fiat 124 was also produced under the name Fiat-KIA 124 by Asia Motors in South Korea between 1970 and 1975.

Egypt

From 2002 to 2007 Lada-Egypt company built at least 9,000 cars in the shell of Lada 2107/Riva (2,200 in 2006), and it continues in 2007.

References

1. ^ "Somaca Casablanca". Somaca.e-monsite.com. http://somaca.e-monsite.com/. Retrieved 2010-04-19. 
2. ^ Cardew, Basil (1966). Daily Express Review of the 1966 Motor Show. London: Beaverbrook Newspapers Ltd. 
3. ^ "Fiat 124 berlina/saloon dimensions". carsfromitaly.net. http://www.carsfromitaly.net/fiat/popups/124berl_dims.html. Retrieved 2007-09-02. 
4. ^ "Fiat 124 station wagon dimensions". carsfromitaly.net/fiat. http://www.carsfromitaly.net/fiat/popups/124sw_dims.html. Retrieved 2007-09-02. 
5. ^ "Previous winners". Car of the year. http://www.caroftheyear.org/previous-winners/1967_1/coty. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "Fiat 124". Autocar 124 (nbr 3664): pages 915–919. date 6 May 1966. 
7. ^ "News and views". Autocar 126 (nbr 3712): page 61. date 6 April 1967. 
8. ^ "Sentra: One of the Best Selling Cars in Automotive History", Nissan Philippines website press release

• James T Crow, ed. (1968). "Fiat 124". Road & Track Road Test Annual: 50–53. 

External links

• Italian site dedicated to the Fiat 124 (English pages)
• Italian forum dedicated to the Fiat 124